Category: Disability

“I couldn’t be convinced by a verbal apology alone, I thought it was the best way to do it. It was an action I thought about and was confused. I had been thinking about doing this about two years ago.” 

Monday 13th January was a national holiday in Japan, it was ‘Coming of Age Day’, so with some other public services, the courts did not sit in Japan. Barrier Free Japan felt this was a good time to recount the first few days in ‘Sagamihara Massacre’ trial, and offer a kind of ‘timeline’ of the trial thus far.

An account of an injured victim was heard, Kazuya Ono (46), who is the only victim to be referred to by his real name in ttrial, was referred to as Mr. Ono. Kazuya Ono (46). He was severely injured by a knife, which led to a police report being filed immediately after the incident.

A statement was taken by from an employee who was detained by the defendant. The employee testified that the defendant would ask if a potential victim could talk when choosing whether to attack them.

The point at issue is the presence or absence of criminal liability at the time of the case. The defense argued, “He was mentally ill or mentally depressed due to cannabis.” The prosecutor’s view is that he was fully accountable as he had “a unique way of thinking, not a pathological delusion within normal psychology.”